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Tuesday, July 29, 2014

Re-Quilting a quilt

Sounds strange, doesn't it?

Recently Janice here in NH contacted me about a quilt that she had that her sister had made. It was a beautiful quilt but Janice felt that she couldn't use it on a daily basis because it was coming 'un-quilted'. Janice had lost her sister to cancer and really wanted to display and use this quilt on a daily basis.

It is an amazing quilt and her sister did a fantastic job on the piecing. I'm guessing the quilt is just a few years old based on the fabric used, but it was constructed using good quality fabric. Looks like an older Thimbleberries to me, but I'm just guessing.

Janice's sister had mainly done a machine stitched in the ditch and a few other spots of creative stitching to creating a great design on the back side of the quilt. There were a few area's where the stitching was coming apart and a few spots where there was some tension issues. This is what worried Janice. She wanted to use and love this quilt daily and didn't want to do further damage to the beautiful piece.

I took the quilt in, talking with Janice about stitching just enough to stabilize the quilt but I wasn't sure how I was going to do it. I struggled with how the best way to secure and stabilize this quilt. At one point I considered just sucking it up and doing it on my Janome keeping true to Janice's quilt.

BUT....if I did that who would know what I had done, and what was original to the quilt? I didn't feel that it was my place to mimic the work already done. I wanted Janice to know exactly what stitches were done by her sister.

If you are a quilter you will get it. I wanted Janice to be able to touch the spots and know the work her sister had put into the quilt. I felt mine had to be different but not overshadowing her sister's work.

I felt a basic meander done by the computer to keep the design evenly spaced and perfectly stitched. This would not attract any attention to the quilting and simply secure the quilt. Above you can see the area I quilted over the original quilting. I re-quilted the quilt.

If you take a close look at the back there is no question who did what on this quilt. It is now ready to be used and loved on a daily basis without worry about the quilt falling apart.

It is a remarkable quilt, and I know that Janice will think of her sister every time she looks at the quilt.